Slytherin Bombshell
by strictlyslytherin
Summary: This is a story about a select group of Slytherins. This takes place in Harry's 5th year. If you want canon...go somewhere else! New Chapter up as of 8804
1. OWL Scores

A/N: Hi, everybody! This is a Slytherin story- hope you like it! It is about five girls, Anj'la, Mariana, Rose, Lauren and Jovanna. Well, read on!

Disclaimer: I own nothing that's owned by anyone else!

Slytherin Bombshell

Chapter one: The O.W.L. Scores

One lonely brown screech owl was gliding high above a sleeping London, two letters clutched in its claws. Its destination was number 6 Wee Gee Road. The address in question had five occupants, the second youngest of them 16-year-old Anj'la J. Evans, an auburn-haired girl with bright green eyes. 

It was 2:30 in the morning and Anj'la was standing at her bedroom window, looking longingly out at the starry but otherwise clear night sky. Anj'la's head began to lull to one side as her eyes drooped. Abruptly her head shot up and her eyes opened.

"No," she said sternly to herself. "They said it would come tonight. I am not going to fall asleep." As she said this to herself, her eyes fell upon a small black spot on the moon that was steadily growing larger. Anj'la's heart leapt. That was her brown screech owl, Nubay. Maybe he had a letter from Hogwarts, or, better yet, one of her friends. 

Either was fine with her. Over the summers she was cut off from the magical community, since she lived in what she was almost positive was an all-Muggle community. This summer had been the worst of them yet, and she had begun to get very frustrated. She had written letter after letter to several people, including her best friends, Mariana, Lauren, Jovanna and Rose. She might as well have written to the brick wall in front of Diagon Alley for all the good it did her.

Earlier she'd even gotten so desperate she had considered writing to Draco Malfoy, a blond Slytherin one year younger than she was. She had reasoned herself out of it by telling herself that even though Draco was in her house, he was still the world's biggest git.

The screech owl landed on the windowsill beside Anj'la and held out his leg for her to take the letters. As she did so, Nubay flew into the air and landed on her shoulder, hooting gratefully. Automatically, Anj'la made her way over to the far corner of the room where she kept Nubay's cage, careful not to trod on the clothes, spell books and potion bottles strewn all over the floor. Anj'la opened the cage, filled the bowl with owl treats, and held her arm out, but Nubay chose to fly to the top of the cage instead.

Anj'la didn't care. She jumped into her bed and opened the first letter. It was from Mariana and Rose, who lived next door to each other, and was written on just one sheet of parchment. 

_Hey Anj'la!_Read the first half.

_Rose is over here right now. We just got back from vacation, and I have wonderful ideas for this year to help the new DADA teacher 'settle in.' Or anyone else, who gets in our way; it doesn't matter to me. I'm not saying my ideas in a stupid letter in case it is intercepted, not that anyone would want to intercept my letter. Except for Matt, but he's at his Godmother's house for the summer. Here's one hint about my ideas: they're BIG! Possibly the biggest things Hogwarts has ever seen!_

_MARIANA_

Anj'la**,** Read the second half.

Wazzup? Good summer? We went on a cruise with Mariana and her parents, but Matt gets seasick so he went to his godmother's house. We just got back and there was a HUGE pile of letters from you. Do you believe Harry Potter or the Ministry/ Daily Prophet? We believe Harry Potter, but we're still getting the Prophet. Boy, the Muggles looked at us funny when it was delivered on the boat. It does have a convincing argument, I must say. My family's leaving again today, so gotta go, see you soon!

R B C

Anj'la let out a long sigh. 

"Useless gibberish," she told herself. What had she expected, news of You-Know-Who? Of course not. Still, it was great to get a letter. Turning to the next letter, she said "Probablfy from Hogwarts," under her breath and glanced at the clock. It was now 3:00. 

"I'll read it later in the morning," she decided and lay down. As she felt her head hit the pillow, there was a loud CRUNCH. That was strange, hadn't she put her other letter on the nightstand? Oh, well. She picked it up, put it one the table, and within seconds, was asleep.

Later that morning, closer to 8:00, Anj'la was roused by her younger brother, Antwan. 

"What?" Anj'la groaned.

"Your stupid owl is tearing up my new poster!" Antwan yelled.

"You mean he's attacking the stupid poster of those big owl eyes?" 

"YAH!"

"Antwan, he attacks things he doesn't like, and Nubay has excellent taste," Anj'la explained to the 14-year-old. 

"Are you saying I have bad taste?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," Anj'la said, extremely matter of fact. "I do think you have horrible taste, and apparently someone agrees with me." At that moment, a brown elf owl landed on Anj'la's head, twittering. Anj'la recognized him at once. 

"Thommiie!" Anj'la cried. (A/N: that's pronounced Tommy, if you care) She took the red letter, and looked at it in a way that suggested she had just been hit with a Confundis charm. Why had they sent her a Howler? She turned it over.

"It's for you," she said, handing it to Antwan. "You'd better open it quick; that's a Howler." Antwan opened the flap cautiously. As soon as he did so, the loud voice of Mariana Starbanks, 10 times louder than normal, began to scream.

"ANTWAN MAURICE EVANS, YOU HAVE ROTTON TASTE! IF ANJ'LA _EVER_ AND I MEAN EVER EVEN THINKS ABOUT PUTTING A POSTER OF OWL EYES UP IN OUR DORM OR COMMON ROOM, I WILL _PERSONALLY_ HUNT YOU DOWN AND KILL YOU! AND DON'T THINK I WON'T!" Antwan flinched as the letter burst into flame. 

"Your middle name is MAURICE?" Anj'la laughed. For some strange, unexplainable reason, she had never bothered to find out her little brother's middle name.

"Well," she said in a business-like tone. "It's official. Majority rules, you know."

"Majority sucks," said Antwan sulkily. At that moment there was a flutter of wings as Nubay flew back into the room. 

"Some one seems to have finished his business." Antwan gave a retreating glance of utmost loathing at Anj'la and Nubay as he left the room.

"Antwan's an idiot," Anj'la muttered to herself, leaning back into her pillows. She reached over to grab the water bottle she kept on her table, and as she did so, she remembered the second letter. She grabbed it. It was a very official-looking letter. Anj'la ha already seen this letter 5 times before, but she still got a thrill whenever it arrived. It was a letter for Hogwarts. She opened it. 

**_HOGWARTS_********_SCHOOL_****_ of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_**

****

_Dear Ms. Evans,_

_We are pleased to remind you that you will once more be going to Hogwarts. Term begins September 1. If for some reason you will be unable to attend Hogwarts, a letter must have reached Hogwarts by August 2. You will need to acquire the following:_

_Three work robes (black)_

_Pewter cauldron (size 5)_

_Dragon-hide gloves (or similar)_

_Quills_

_Parchment_

_Ink_

_Standard Book of Spells, N.E.W.T. Level_

_1000 Potions for N.E.W.T. Level_

_Transfiguration for N.E.W.T. Levels_

_250 __Chosen__ N.E.W.T. Level Charms_

_The Defense Against the Dark Arts N.E.W.T._

_ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS_

_Total O.W.L.s: Twelve_

_N.E.W.T. Classes you are taking:_

_Charms_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts_

_Herbology_

_Potions_

_Transfiguration_

_Total number of Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests Classes: Five_

_Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Anj'la felt her jaw drop. 12 O.W.L.s and 5 classes; that was enough. She did it, she actually did it! She grabbed a piece of parchment. She HAD to write to Mariana. 

_Mariana- 12 O.W.L.s! _**_12!_**_ Five N.E.W.T. classes! That's enough to be an Auror! HOW MANY? HOW MANY? HOW MANY? How many did you get? Lauren? Rose? Jovanna? Write back soon!_

_Anj'la_

Anj'la sealed it and gave it to Thommiie, the little brown elf owl who had brought the Howler and was actually Mariana's. 

"Take this to Mariana! Shoo!" As Thommiie flew out the window, Anj'la glanced at the clock. It was already 8:30. Anj'la figured that now that she was out of bed, she might as well go get some breakfast. 

Anj'la slid down the banister and landed cat-like on the carpet as the smell of bacon sizzling in the frying pan hit her nose. She ran for the kitchen hoping to be the first one there, besides Anita, the blond, blue-eyed Muggle who was her mum. All of the family but her were Muggles. To her slight dismay, three people were already sitting at the table; her father Eric, a tall blond man with stunning green eyes like Anj'la's own, her blond sister, and another man. Anj'la groaned.

"What's _he_ doing here?" she asked, thrusting an angry finger at the man at the end of the table. He had black hair and tan skin. 

"He's my fiancé, you know that, Baby," said her sister.

"Shut up, Mallino," retorted Anj'la crossly. She really hated her sister's fiancé. "And don't call me Baby." 

At that moment and large grey barn owl flew in, and landed on the floor, holding out its leg for Anj'la to take the three letters. She obliged, and took them, all of which were in bright yellow envelopes. The first letter was from Lauren, addressed to Anj'la in Lauren's familiar, neat handwriting. Anj'la opened the envelope and put a funnily folded little yellow package on the table. Anj'la stepped back, and the letter began to unfold itself. As soon as it was done, the letter began to twist and refold itself into the shape of a human. Then it stretched and began to walk around. 

"Where are the others?" it asked in a squeaky, high-pitched voice. Anj'la told the thing they were still in their envelopes. It instantly demanded she get them out, and Anj'la did so. As soon as they were done refolding themselves, they located the first human. The three linked arms and started to skip in a circle and chant.

"We got 12 O.W.L.s, 5 classes, 12 O.W.L.s, 5 classes, 12 O.W.L.s, 5 classes, 12 O.W.L.s, 5 classes," over and over again. 

"That's great!" Anj'la told them. "So, Lauren, Jovanna, Mariana, can I meet you in Diagon Alley on-"

"Today!" they interrupted her. 

"Okay, I'll take the Knight Bus," Anj'la told them.

"See you!" the letters said, before bursting into flame as Antwan walked into the kitchen.

"Why does everything burst into flame?" he asked to no one in particular.

Anj'la hadn't even heard Antwan. By that time, she was half-way up the stairs. Anj'la began packing, although it wasn't packing so much as it was throwing things into a trunk and hoping it all fit. Once she finished, Antwan helped her carry her trunk out to the curb. Anj'la threw out her wand hand. Suddenly there was a loud bang as a violet purple double-decker buss appeared out of nowhere and came to a halt. A young man no older than 20 or 21 stepped off.

"Welcome to the Knight-" He was rudely interrupted by Anj'la.

"Yah, yah, shut up, Stan, just get me outta this place." Anj'la clambered onto the bus, followed by her trunk, which Stan had thoughtfully enchanted. She hadn't taken more than two steps after paying when she heard three very familiar and welcome voices.

A/N: please review, tell me what you think. This is my first story, so try to go easy on me. 


	2. Madame Malkin's Robes For all Occasions

A/N: hey everyone! Thanks for reviewing! Review more!

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Slytherin Bombshell

Chapter 2: Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions

            "Mariana! Lauren! Jovanna!" Anj'la screamed, running forward to hug them. As she did so, the bus gave a loud ***BANG*** and jumped forward. The four girls and all the armchairs fell back six or so inches. 

            "Maybe- Maybe we should sit down?" Jovanna suggested.

            "Yah."

            "Uh-huh."

            "Sure." The other three girls agreed, and they all sat down on chairs they pulled into a circle. They then began to talk about their summers. 

            "My summer was one of the worst- and best," Mariana said firmly. Anj'la shook her head.

            "You think YOU had a bad summer? I was grounded for half of it!" she exclaimed.

            "What'd you do, girl?" Jovanna asked. Jovanna's parents adored their only daughter, and she hadn't been grounded since she was 7 years old.

            "Crashed the car into the garage," Anj'la informed them. Lauren winced.

            "That would do it," she agreed. 

            "Oh, well, I had to spend the summer with my cousins. Matt was at his godmothers, too. Lucky for me, Rose was there. But even so, my cousins _are_ Bonniie and Sammiie." The other girls looked sympathetically at Mariana. Bonniie and Sammiie were 12 year old twin girls, but twice as mischievous as Mariana. They found it amusing to annoy her and try any (and all) new pranks of theirs on her. 

"At least they've grown up a little. This year they only pulled half of their pranks on me. I 'got' to help them with the rest." The girls all laughed at this. 

            "So _that's _where you got all your big ideas!" Anj'la said. Mariana nodded. 

            Suddenly the bus gave another loud ***BANG* **and came to a stop. Everything in the bus slid forward about 11 inches. Stan jumped up.

            "First stop, Diagon All-" he started to announce. 

            "Yah, yah, shut up Stan, we know where we are," Anj'la interrupted. 

            "You're a nasty little troll booger, Anj'la," Stan teased her.

            "Today I'm in a good mood, or else I would have put a Silencing Charm on you and tell you never to speak again!" Anj'la threatened him.

            "I bet you would," said Stan under his breath as Anj'la, Lauren, Jovanna and Mariana clambered off the bus with their trunks. There was a loud ***BANG*** and the large, violet bus was gone. 

            "Where now, genius?" Lauren asked Anj'la.

            "Where are we?" Mariana asked, glancing around.

            "We're in Muggle London, and keep your voice down," Anj'la hissed. 

            "WHY?" Mariana screeched. 

            "SHUT UP! Just follow me, okay? To get to Diagon Alley, we go through the pub here. The Leaky Cauldron." Anj'la tried to keep calm. She really loved her friends, but as purebloods they had always just Floo'ed to Diagon Alley and never gone through the Leaky Cauldron. Anj'la grabbed her trunk and, to her relief, her friends followed her into the Leaky Cauldron. 

            When they entered, Lauren looked around curiously. 

            "Are we allowed to be in here?" she asked softly.

            "This is a pub, not a bloody American bar," Anj'la responded, practically yelling. "We're just going to Diagon Alley." No one even looked up.

            "Fine, don't talk to us," Jovanna muttered to the other occupants of the pub. Then the bartender looked up. 

            "You lot going to Diagon Alley?" he asked them. Anj'la nodded shortly.

            "Yeah. I know how to get there, Tom," she grinned, cutting him off short. Anj'la began to walk towards a door, pulling her trunk, when she realized that Tom had Wingardium Leviosa'ed it and the other girls' trunks. She turned around to thank him, and realized the other three had not followed her. 

            "Come on," she snapped at them. "Unless, of course, you want to stay here all day?" Anj'la jerked the door open and they followed her into a dingy courtyard. 

            "Oooh, I know how to do this part!" Jovanna said proudly. Anj'la shrugged.

"Go on then," Anj'la encouraged. Jovanna tapped the bricks and a doorway opened, so that Lauren, Jovanna, Anj'la and Mariana could pass into the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. 

The girls ran down the street, pulling their enchanted trunks behind them, dodging people, until they reached a small inn, with a tall, blue-haired, brown-eyed girl waited patiently.

"ROSE!" Anj'la exclaimed. They each gave her a hug and pulled their trunks up into the two rooms they would be sharing until it was time to go to Hogwarts. Anj'la then examined Rose's blue hair.

"Hmm… I like it better than the lavender," she decided. Rose nodded.

"Me too. But I'm thinking about using this color?" She screwed up her face and her hair changed to a green with silver streaks.  Mariana grinned.

"Show some house spirit, Rose! It's gorgeous!" she said. The five settled onto on of the beds, and Mariana described her "Big Plans" which turned out to be:

"Muggle pyrotechnics with different colors and weird smells!" she announced. Jovanna, ever the critical one, looked skeptical.

"Doesn't that mean colored fireworks with odd smells?"

"Nooo- Yes. But it's funner- more fun? - to say Muggle pyrotechnics with different colors and weird smells!" Mariana admitted. The others were still a bit suspicious, but Mariana assured them it would be better in real life. 

"Let's go shopping!" Lauren decided. The girls went tearing back down the street, skidding to a stop by Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. They entered and were greeted by a cold, drawling, and definitely unwelcome voice. Draco Malfoy was standing on a stool having his robes fitted. 

"Look who it is," he muttered, causing Madame Malkin to turn around.

"I'll be with you in just a minute," she called sweetly. The girls leaned up against a wall. 

"What are you guys doing here?" Malfoy asked coldly.

"What do you think we're doing?" Lauren asked sarcastically. "Buying ice cream?"

"We came to ask you a question," Anj'la told him. "How did Prince Ego Trip- that's you- fit his head through the door?"

"Piss off," Malfoy said, turning slightly pink. 

"You know," said Jovanna thoughtfully. "He looks like a skinny piggy in a blond wig."

"The resemblance is quite striking," Mariana mused. Her thoughtful attitude was a bit ruined by the smirk on her face. 

"OOOH," Lauren said a bit shrilly. "You can see his little mind trying to think up a retort. It looks kind of painful."

"You wouldn't know. It's not like you ever tried to think," said Malfoy fiercely, now almost red.

"Play nice, Malfoy," said Jovanna menacingly, pulling out her wand. "Why don't we wash out your mouth?" Malfoy eyes widened slightly. 

"You can't do magic. We're not at school and you're not 17 yet. You'll be expelled."

"You're wrong. I turned 17 yesterday and got my license."

"Well- well- I'm a prefect!" said Draco desperately. Lauren reached into her bag and pulled out her prefect badge. 

"In case you forgot, Malfoy, I am, too."

"Anyway, even if Lauren wasn't a prefect, what would you do, Malfoy? Take off house points?" Anj'la asked. This was a bit of a joke; over the last few years, the girls had achieved a record for house points lost. 

"No," said Draco frantically. "I'd- I'd put you in detention," he stuttered. 

"Whatever," Anj'la replied in an agitated voice.  Madame Malkin, who had been amazingly calm during all of this, stood up.

"You're done, Mister Malfoy." Draco jumped down, paid Madame Malkin, and headed to the door. He was at the door when he turned around and said coldly:

"See you at school."

A/N: thanks to Angelsofdragons and Enchantedspirit for reviewing. 

Enchantedspirit: Tom Riddle being the only Muggleborn Slytherin is a lie. (okay, so we forgot that little detail!) Anj'la's a Muggleborn too. 


	3. The Random Patrol

A/N: Hey! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: See other chapters!

Slytherin Bombshell

Chapter 3: The Random Patrol

            Nearly an hour later the five girls emerged from the shop, each carrying a large bag full of robes for the upcoming school year. 

"Quality Quidditch Supplies!" Anj'la screamed. There was a loud cheer from the others, and they went tearing down the street, dodging the other inhabitants of the crowded area. They screeched to a halt in front of a small shop with many mobiles of Snitches, Bludgers and Quaffles. Lauren was the first one in. 

"I win, I win!" she exclaimed. The others stumbled in, slightly out of breath. 

"If little Miss Midget could beat you, you must be in sorry shape. By the way, are you following me?" Draco Malfoy sneered. 'Why is he always in the way?' Mariana thought as Jovanna stepped forward.

"Of course not," she told him, her feet not more than seven inches from his. She was half of a head taller than he was, and more muscular. She looked down on him, a look of great hatred on her face. He tried to stare bravely back, but it wasn't really working. 

"I warned you once, Malfoy, and one warning is all that you get." An evil grin crossed her face. "Wash your mouth out." Bubbles came gushing out of his mouth, large and slightly blue. Another evil grin crossed another face. Anj'la's eyes sparkled maliciously. 

"Pink. Make him pink." Suddenly, and to the great disappointment of the girls, the bubbles stopped. Anj'la turned to see Lucius Malfoy standing there, glaring, his wand raised.

"If I may inquire, why pink, you filthy little M-" 

****WACK! ** **Mariana, flying out of nowhere, smacked him across the face. Lucius, caught unaware, fell over. 

"What was _that _for? I hadn't finished my sentence yet!" he told her, amazed. It had been years since anyone had really hit him, let alone hard enough to make him fall to the ground. Ironically enough, it had been her father who had dealt that blow to him. 

"That one was just for the principle of it all." ****WHAM! **** She kicked him. Odd, hadn't Eric Starbanks done that, too?

"And that was for coming close to calling Anj'la a Mudblood." Lucius' nose began to bleed. 

"Nice," Rose grinned, still holding back a furious Anj'la. Mariana pulled a big, hard, thick Beater's stick from her sleeve. 

"Anything else you want to say?" She asked.

"No," Lucius admitted, eyeing the stick warily. If it made her leave him alone, might as well. The Devil Child turned to Anj'la.

"Do you promise not to attack my new, not-so-good friend, Lucius?" 

"For today," Anj'la agreed reluctantly. Anj'la stopped struggling, stood upright, and dusted imaginary dust off her sleeve. Abruptly she turned and sprang on Draco. 

"AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!" Draco said in an unusually high-pitched voice. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??" 

"I'm taking my anger at your father out on you!" was the answer. When Draco stood up, his normally perfect hair was in disarray. 

"Oh," said Mariana, dabbing at her dry eyes. "I never thought I'd see the day when Malfoy's hair wasn't perfect." She said this all in a very fake, sobbing voice. Draco quickly pulled out a small pocket mirror. 

"What did you _do_ to me?" he screeched. 

"NOOGIES!" the five girls screamed in unison. Rose stepped forward from the group.

"You should give your friends noogies at _least_ once a month." The girls stepped into a circle and gave each other noogies. Doing this, they exited the shop. 

The five girls emerged out onto the crowded street laughing hysterically. Rose began marching down the street chanting. "RANDOM patrol. Random PATROL." The others, following, began chanting as well. 

"Ooh, said Mariana. "Ice cream!" They dashed inside the shop.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, Lassie was trying to tell everyone that little Timmy was drowning in the well- I mean, Meanwhile, back at the shop, Draco and Lucius both got up and dusted their robes off. Draco turned to his father.

"I told you there was a reason they're known as the Random Patrol."

T?N: I'm sorry this is so short, but we were bored and wrote it over the phone. It ended with my mom kicking me off, I'd been on it for too long. J Next one soon!


	4. The Truth Hurts

A/N: Sorry it took FOREVER to update. I (not the writer, but the typer) had this at Thanksgiving, but I've so busy lately. Alternatively, maybe I'm just trying to decipher Nat's handwriting- he, he!Here we go! However, it's up now!

Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, I own nothing that you recognize, blah, blah, blah.

Slytherin Bombshell

Chapter 4: The Truth Hurts

            A week later, Mariana Starbanks, Lauren Murphy, Jovanna Baker, Rose Copperfield and Anj'la Evans boarded the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 ¾. The train's whistle blew and the train started to move as the girls settled themselves inside an empty compartment. Anj'la sat down on one of the scarlet cushioned seats and let out a sigh. They were finally on their way to Hogwarts. : Why am I just sitting here? : A small voice inside her head asked. Anj'la trusted this voice. It was the one that gave her all the pranks-err...ideas to use against Malfoy. She stood up and headed for the door. 

            "Where are you going?" Mariana asked, looking up from her _Teen Witch _magazine. 

            "To find Blaise and Quinn," Anj'la fluently lied.

            "Okay!" Mariana said, throwing down her magazine and jumping to her feet. Lauren grabbed the magazine and began flipping through it. "I'm coming with!" she exclaimed. Mentally, Anj'la chided herself for not thinking up something else, something Mariana would think was boring. She wanted to be alone. Then again, if Mariana wanted to come, Anj'la would have to tie her down and nail her to the floor to stop her. 

            Anj'la opened the door and Mariana went zooming out. Technically, students were supposed to stay in their compartments, but no one followed the rule, and no one cared. 

            "Wait up, Anj!" Mariana called. "You're walking too fast."

            "No," said Anj'la, turning around. "You're just sticking your head into every compartment we go by to say hi to one of your friends."

            "But I _had_ to say hi to Ginny and the twins, I haven't seen them all summer," Mariana informed her.

            "It wasn't just them. That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it," Anj'la warned. 

            "So I have connections." Mariana shrugged, saying this very matter-of-factly.

            "No!" Anj'la was practically yelling at this point. Either because of Mariana's 'connections' or another reason, everyone was (wisely) staying in their compartments. "All those people are not just 'connections,' they were FRIENDS. Normal Slytherins do not have that many… inter-house friends. Face it, Star; you are not a normal Slytherin!"

            "I COULD BE!" Mariana yelled in a louder voice than Anj'la.

            "Look," said Anj'la, her voice lower as she calmed down. "If you were normal, you would break up these friendships now." Lauren, Rose and Jovanna were the three who first ventured out into the hall to brave Anj'la and Mariana's wrath. 

            "Can't you two-" Rose stopped when she saw the livid look on Mariana's face, her eyes wide in horror. "Oh no, I recognize that look. It's the Mariana's not a normal Slytherin look. Back away slowly," she reminded the other girls. Slowly, they started to back away. 

            "NO, it's okay," Mariana said, turning. She stalked into the compartment behind her and slid the doors shut. Everyone heard, very distinctly, Mariana mutter 'Arohamora,' the spell that keeps a door locked and Alohomora useless. It was one of Mariana's favorites. 

            Anj'la let out a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. : Ha, ha, _now_ you've done it! : That annoying little voice told her. : So where you going to run to next? : Quinn and Blaise, I'm going to go find Quinn and Blaise, she told it in return. 

            When Anj'la finally found the two boys' compartment, they were intent on looking into a shoebox. They quickly slammed it shut when the door opened, but upon seeing Anj'la, they grinned. 

            "Go on now, shut the door," Quinn encouraged her. She did so, and crossed over to them. 

            "What's in the box?" she asked, somewhat suspicious. 

            "Our latest invention," Blaise said proudly. 

            "Blaise! Your voice got deeper!" Anj'la exclaimed. It was true. Over the summer, Blaise's voice had deepened to a low bass. 

            "Yah, Anj'la, don't remind me," he said glumly, hanging his head.

            "Ahem, our newest invention?" Quinn said, bringing them back to reality. Anj'la cut him off.

            "Star's being a git. She's so stupid. It's all her fault," she said, grinding her teeth. 

            "What's Mariana's fault?" Blaise asked, concerned.

            "She can't face the fact that she's not a normal Slytherin." A hint of a tear came to Anj'la's eye but she blinked determinately and it disappeared. 

            "So why are you here?" Quinn asked.

            "She locked me out." Anj'la was almost sobbing. 

            "This may cheer you up," Blaise said, tapping the top of the shoebox. Anj'la almost grinned. They fell for it! They actually fell for it! Quinn pulled the top off and Anj'la peered inside. There were a number of large white balls with multicolored spots inside. The boys both swelled with pride. Anj'la raised one eyebrow.

            "What are they?" she asked. 

            "Try one," Blaise said, still beaming at her. Anj'la paused. "By the way, Anj'la, that was an order." Anj'la glared, but took one anyway. The candy was so big; she could barely get her jaw around it. After about 30 seconds of being sucked on, there was a loud ***pop*** and the candy shrank to about half the previous size. 

            "What the-" Anj'la never finished her sentence, as when she opened her mouth, huge amounts of dark green smoke with silver swirls in it poured out. 

            "Wow," Anj'la said, more smoke pouring out. "We gotta show this to Star." She grabbed the box and sprinted down the corridor to the compartment she had earlier been locked out of. Anj'la banged on the door.

            "Mariana Starbanks, get your arse out here, or let me in!" she yelled at the door. It slowly opened and Mariana peeked out. 

            "I'm sorry I got mad. I still am, a little bit, though," she said sheepishly. 

            "Fine, whatever," said Anj'la, pushing her way into the compartment. Lauren, Jovanna and Rose followed. 

            "Try one of _these_!" Anj'la shoved one of the jawbreakers into Mariana's mouth. There was the loud ***pop*** and Mariana let out a loud cloud of green and silver smoke. Mariana instantly began blowing the smoke around the room as the others grabbed jawbreakers for themselves. 

            Blaise and Quinn opened the door and sat down. Blaise was the first to speak.

            "So I take it the two of you are friends again?"

            "Maybe," Mariana answered. Jovanna tilted her head to one side, studying Blaise. 

            "Blaise, your voice is deeper," she told him. He hung his head.

            "Yah, I know." Quinn grabbed the shoebox.

            "You selfish gits! There's only one left!" he exclaimed, glaring at the girls.

            "Stop glaring at us like it's our fault you didn't make enough!" Rose insisted, her look cleverly convincing Quinn it was his fault.

            "Anyway, don't get your robes in a loop," Anj'la told him. She waved her wand and said, "Duplico!" ***Poof*** There was instantly ten more of the colored balls. The boys grabbed one each.

            "We have a few unpresented inventions of our own," Jovanna said, grinning. Mariana pulled out a small, gold box that was quivering slightly as Lauren continued. "We developed them at the end of last year and we couldn't show you in time." 

            Mariana opened the box. Inside of it were four smaller boxes, and the quivering was even more evident. She delicately lifted out one of the little boxes, almost reverently holding it in her hand. She opened it. Inside were many small, white objects with red spots. Mariana pulled out one of the balls, popped it into her mouth, and began to chew. She then breathed out a spurt of flame. 

            "How awesome is _that?_" Lauren grinned. 

            "Awesome," Quinn agreed. 

            "What'd I miss?" Blaise asked, having just been engulfed in a bunch of silver and green smoke. Mariana pulled out another box, which held the same item, but with blue spots. She ate one of those, but ice came out instead of flame. 

            "Comes in both the fire version and the ice version. Fire's cinnamon, ice peppermint," Anj'la told them proudly. 

            "Oh!" said Rose. "Have they seen the vanish-resistant rodents?"

            "Now with wings!" added Jovanna cheerily. At this, Lauren slammed Mariana's magazine shut as loudly as you can shut a magazine.

            "Honestly people, if you're going to talk about new items, you should really watch the door." She stalked over to the door, bent down, and pulled on two blobs attached to flesh colored strings. There were two very loud yells of objection from the other side of the door.

            Fred and George Weasley entered. They nodded to Mariana, but their attention was focused on Lauren. 

            "Give them BACK!" George said, glaring at her. Anj'la jumped to her feet and grabbed the blobs. 

            "Oooh, what are they?" she wondered.

            "Give them back," George repeated through gritted teeth. 

            "Tell us what they are, and maybe we will," Rose teased. 

            "GIVE THEM BACK!" both of the boys roared, pulling out their wands.

            "In the immortal words of Ghandi whatever his name was, MAKE ME!" Anj'la screamed the last two words. 

            That was when the door slid open and a tall girl with short, curly hair and a Head Girl badge pinned to her robes entered. 

            "Would you lot be quiet, I'm trying to get some rest," she said in an imperial tone of voice. 

            "Who are you?" Lauren snapped.

            "I am a Ravenclaw. I also happen to be Head Girl this year."

            "Well," said Fred, holding his hand out, "If you'd kindly give us our ears back, we'll be going." Without thinking, Anj'la dropped the blobs into his hand and the Weasley twins made a hasty retreat. The girl, evidently deciding everything was fine, turned to leave, only to discover Rose was blocking her way. Blaise winked at Rose as he and Jovanna pulled out their wands and started muttering under their breaths. 

            "Where you going'?" Rose asked cheerfully.

            "To catch up on my beauty sleep," the girl replied.

            "You must not have had any beauty sleep in years," Lauren said smugly. 

            "Humph." The girl turned to leave, and shrieked as hundreds of winged hamsters, gerbils, mice and other small mammals with wings came flying at her. She rushed from the compartment to gales of laughter, not noticing her new and improved badge read Head Git.

            "Not bad, not bad at all," someone said from the other end of the compartment. A tall boy with thick black hair and, in Anj'la's opinion, a very nice smile leaned up against the open doorframe. He looked uncannily like Mariana except for the hairstyle, and was very welcome to the others of the compartment. 

            "MATT!" Jovanna screamed. She ran over to him and gave him a huge hug and a peck on the cheek.

            "Hey Jovanna," Matt Starbanks, Mariana's twin, replied.

            "You two going out?" Mariana asked. "I didn't know." Rose glanced at her.

            "How could you not know? He's your twin!" she exclaimed. Unlike most twins, Matt and Mariana were very close and were often able to 'sense' each other's thoughts. 

            "So?" Mariana asked. "He was at his godmothers all summer! How was I supposed to keep up with every little thing he does?"

            "Good point," Rose confided to Lauren and Anj'la. Just then, the train gave a huge jolt, and Matt and Jovanna sat down.

            "So, we have a few inventions we could tell you about," Anj'la prompted. 

            "It'd be quicker if we just show them the list," Rose suggested. "The new things are the rodents, which you saw," Blaise and Quinn nodded, and Matt just raised an eyebrow. "Then the other new things are the Speak-easy and the Boggart Bar."

            'What the hell are those?" Matt wondered. Mariana reached into her bag and handed the boys each an order form. They read them.

Pranks/Sweets and other 'Advantages'

__   Dict-a-Quill- A quill with a memory- 

if you write it once,

 it will remember!

4 Galleons

­­__  Magical Mouth Mints- A mint that makes your tongue long,

forked and blue, the more consumed, 

the stranger the tongue! Comes in packs of 6

15 sickles

__  Ele-Mints- Chose one of two, or breathe both fire and ice!

15 sickles for 6 of one: F:__ I:__

1 galleon for 4 of each

__  Speak-Easy- Actually talk to your friends and family 

in a letter. Comes in pack of 5

1 galleon

__  Rodents- hamsters, gerbils, mice and other small mammals!

They come in small pills, just add water! (50 rodents per

Capsule) Try to vanish them and they multiply

By 17! Come in packs of 5 capsules. 

1 galleon, 6 sickles

_Now with Wings_

__  BoggartBar- Give your victim this and listen in that night!

They reveal things they might not want to! Retain

absolutly no memory of it!

1 galleon per bar

            "Is that all?" Matt asked, amazed. 

            "YUP!" yelled the girls.

Typer's Note (from here on to be known as T/N) I'm really sorry this took FOREVER! But I was lazy, busy, and my on-line was screwed up. It's Winter break now, so there MIGHT be more chapters! Stay tuned, my New Year's Resolution will be once a week for a chapter, unless Nat (Author) doesn't make it that fast, then blame her. Send an email, or Review!!! Nat & me really luv y'all!


	5. Back Where They Belong

T/N: Absolutely amazing! Less than one month into the New Year and my resolution is already broken. Let's hope my life never depends on my will power, huh? By the way, reviews= more will power to me (hint, hint)

Disclaimer: I hope you've caught on by now I don't own anything that's someone else's. 

Slytherin Bombshell

Chapter 5: Back Where They Belong

            Soon, it began to get dark out and the train began to slow down outside of the Hogsmeade station. 

            "You know," Lauren said. "You guys never got to share your ideas." Blaise opened his mouth to speak, but Matt spoke first.

            "Blaise can't say anything," he decided. "It's too weird." Blaise hung his head

            "Hey," Mariana said, hugging him. "I think it's cute." She finished this remark with a quick kiss, leaving Matt looking at the two of them, confused. Anj'la made a loud gagging noise. 

            "Whatever do girls see in boys… and vise versa?" she asked. "YECH!"

            "You- him- What? How?" Matt managed "Mari, why didn't you-"

            "C'mon, let's go," Mariana said, swiftly trying to change the subject. Matt however, would not let it lie. He followed Mariana and Blaise all the way to the carriages, repeating the same questions. Finally, Mariana turned around.

            "You-" she said, pointing at Matt. "-Were at your godmothers all summer." At this, she turned on her heal and proceeded to the nearest empty coach. Jovanna, Lauren and Rose climbed into it also. Anj'la started to climb in, but Mariana pushed her out. 

            "I'm still mad about the abnormal Slytherin thing, and this _is_ MY coach. Go away," she commanded. Anj'la turned. Climbing into the NEXT carriage, she buried her face in her hands. Typical Mariana, she thought as the boys climbed into the coach. They began to trundle up the hill and Anj'la had an idea. 

            "Hey Matt," she said, glancing at the tall boy on the seat next to her. "What do you do when you get Mariana mad?" Matt bit his lip. 

            "Oh, I don't make Mariana mad," he said, a bit nervously. Quinn, Blaise and Anj'la roared with laughter. Quinn was the first to recover. 

            "Matt, you're scared of your own sister?" he managed between laughs. 

            "So what, so are you," Matt retorted. Quinn stopped laughing instantly. 

            "But she's not my twin," he muttered under his breath. The carriages pulled to a stop. 

When they entered the Great Hall, they sat down at the Slytherin table. Mariana sat at the end of the table, with Blaise next to her, then Matt, and then Jovanna. Rose was across from Mariana, then Lauren, Quinn, and Anj'la. Anj'la turned to see who was just sitting down on her left. Great. Draco Malfoy. He sneered, and then turned away. 

That little voice began to speak.  : He's revolting; his family's GOT to be the most annoying family on earth. You should do something about it. :  Another voice started to speak. This one was sweet sounding, but no less hateful. : Like stuff his ugly face into a bowl of garlic mashed potatoes. 

Anj'la stopped listening for a minute and thought. Weren't people supposed to have angel voices and devil voices? Those watcha-ma-call-'ems… oh yeah, consciences? Which was her angel? The sweet voice spoke again. : As soon as the food appears, just stuff his ugly mutt with it.: Then, as if reading her mind, it continued. : By the way, honey, I'm your angel side! SO I'd start worrying if I were you. Hey wait, I am you! : The voice stopped, and Anj'la felt the urge to laugh uncontrollably. 

Then she realized something. She was going insane. Anj'la looked around at her Slytherin year mates, which DID included Mariana. Maybe going insane wasn't so bad, after all. She'd fit in with her friends then, wouldn't she?

Matt and Blaise were almost yelling at each other. Jovanna punched Matt, and Mariana punched Blaise. That calmed them down, but the Sorting starting made everyone fall silent. The warning in the Hat's song made them glance quizzically at each other, but the second first year called (Buckingham, Jennifer) being sorted to Slytherin made them all involve themselves in the clapping and cheering they normally did during the sorting. Finally Zeller, Rose, was sorted into Hufflepuff, the stool and Hat put away, and the Sorting was over.

 Dumbledore stood up. He gave his traditional welcome speech, but was interrupted by a short fat woman who he introduced as the new DADA teacher. Our eight Slytherins seized her up. She had on a horrible pink cardigan, and large bow on top of her hair. She instantly started a long, boring speech.

"Who in hell does she think she is, interrupting Dumbledore like that?" Quinn asked Anj'la. "She MUST be from the Ministry of Magic." Blaise gave a sudden groan. 

"She's Dolores Umbridge. She does work for the Ministry; she's Fudge's 'senior Undersecretary' or some other nonsense. Father's had her over a few times. Reckons it's good to be nice to her. But my mum hates her and so she doesn't come over much. Good thing too, she gets on my nerves," he finished. Anj'la tilted her head, staring at Umbridge. 

"She looks like a toad," she said with finality. 

"You're right," Mariana said, obviously having forgiven Anj'la. 

"One that has swallowed a very juicy fly," said Jovanna.

"Get on with it!" Matt whispered. "I'm Hungry!" Lauren pulled a piece of parchment from her robes. Mariana grabbed her quill, dipped it in ink, and began to write. 

_Mariana: This old toad, she said too many words and wouldn't let the hungry Slytherins eat so we killed her!_

_Blaise: Mariana, you're sweet, but a little odd!_

_Matt: Don't call my twin odd!_

_Jovanna: Blaise is stupid and Matt is HOT!_

_Mariana: This old toad, she ate too many flies and got fat and now she is here to spy on Dumbledore and make our lives miserable!_

_Jovanna: Weren't we talking about Matt being hot?_

_Lauren: Why is it Platform 9 3/4? Why not 7 3/20 or 18 9/10? Why do we call them Gryffindorks?_

_Rose: I'm looking at you very oddly right now…_

_Quinn: Oh, YOU'RE looking at them funny? _

_Lauren: I was just wondering…_

_Anj'la: Where do you GET this stuff?_

_Mariana: It's easy, you just let it flow! This old toad she… Rose, some help?_

_Rose: *SIGHS* This old toad she kept talking and wears really ugly rings on fat fingers that can barely hold a pen…_

_Quinn: __AND this is the very end!___

With this happy conclusion to their note/song, the 8 Slytherins stood up and applauded loudly. Luckily for them, at that moment, Umbridge had finished her long, pointless speech. Dumbledore stood up, eyes twinkling, and announced,

"Let the feast begin!" He clapped his hands and food appeared. Anj'la wasted no time. She grabbed a chicken leg with one hand and a scoop of steamed carrots with the other. They all ate in silence for a little, enjoying the good food. None of them had had anything but the jawbreakers since breakfast, and were all very hungry. Anj'la suspected Matt and Mariana had had a breakfast with as much food as they had now, though. They liked breakfast. A lot. Quinn leaned back and took a deep breath, then dived back into his food. 

The eight Slytherins were about to rise when Anj'la paused. Were those _garlic mashed potatoes?_ It was just too perfect of an opportunity. She picked it up and turned it upside down on Draco Malfoy's blond head. Our Slytherins ran out of the hall, laughing hysterically. 

They were just outside the blank space of wall that marked the Slytherin common room when a familiar voice stopped them. 

"How are my favorite Slytherins?" Professor Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin house and Potions Master, asked. The group exchanged glances. 

"That would be us, right?"

"That would be you," He confirmed, rolling his eyes.

"Oh," said Blaise. "In that case, we're fine."  Snape tilted his head and regarded him.

"Mr. Zambini, your voice is deeper." 

"I know!" he said, hitting his head with his hand. 

"Well, I'll see all of you- well, excepting Mr. Zambini and Mr. Starbanks, of course- in class tomorrow then," Snape said. As he left, they entered the common room. They were the first ones in. They began to sit down by the fire, the choice spots of the common room. The door opened again, and two 7th year prefects entered, trailed by the new first years.

"This is the common room- Try to remember the password. And these…" the girl sighed and pointed at the five girls, who were now bouncing slightly on the seats. "…Are our 6th year girls." At this, the girls began to really bounce high and laugh shrilly. The first years began to look a bit nervous. The girl looked at the ceiling. 

"I'm glad this is our last year with them," she muttered to her partner, David Mann, who snickered.

"Honestly. If they're our future… We're history," he quipped. The girls all stopped bouncing and shot their iciest glares at the two. 

"Oh, Isabel, you're SO funny," Lauren said sarcastically. 

"Well, I've got business to attend to, if you'll excuse me," Isabel Ryly said, walking away. David had finished showing the common room off to the first years by now, and she had almost joined them when Jovanna called out to her.

"You're excused."

Lauren, Anj'la, Rose and Jovanna resumed jumping, but Mariana had an unusually thoughtful look on her face. 

"Where are the boys?" she asked.

"As soon as the door opened, they ran," Anj'la said scornfully. 

"Oh, were they to scared to be seen with their GIRL-FRIENDS?" Jovanna said in a singsong voice.

"Was their manly pride too great?" Lauren said, practically yelling. 

"Get down here, you yellow-bellied cowards!" Mariana yelled, shaking her fist at the boys' dormitory steps. Matt's voice came drifting down.

"We're fine where we are, thanks!" he called. It sounded slightly muffled though, which made Mariana think he was under his bed. 

"Get your arse down here Matt Starbanks, or I'll kiss Blaise on the mouth in front of the Great Hall for the next two weeks!" she yelled. Blaise appeared instantly, smiling happily. Matt appeared instants later, looking around wildly as if to make certain Blaise and Mariana were nowhere near each other. They were now sitting on a couch and Matt jammed himself in between them. 

"Hey-"

"What the-" Mariana and Blaise protested.

"I want to sit by my twin," Matt said to Blaise, "And I want to sit by my friend," he told Mariana. She instantly pushed him off of the couch.

"And I want to be Mary Queen of Scots," she told him. 

"And I want Matt to come sit by me," Jovanna said, smiling at Matt. He threw Mariana a sulky look and went to sit by his girlfriend, who rewarded him with a kiss.

"Hey Quinn!" Anj'la yelled. "Jovanna and Matt are in PERFECT torturing situation!" Quinn came flying out, taking in the scene quickly. Anj'la was seated alone on a sofa and Quinn knelt on one knee next to her and they stared deeply into each others eyes. 

"Oh, Anj'la," he sighed.

"Oh, Quinn," she replied. She pulled out the quill they had used earlier and a Muggle pen. She handed them to Quinn and fluttering her eyelashes, said, "Take these as a sign of my undying love." Quinn clutched them to his chest.

"Oh, Anj'la, you have such a way with writing utensils!" They both made loud kissing sounds, and everyone but Matt and Jovanna cracked up laughing. 

Over the course of this amateur soap opera that was part of every teen's daily life, students had been trickling into the common room, and Isabel and David had come back from showing the first years their rooms. Isabel saw this as a good time to march over.

"You do realize that it's nearly 10:00 p.m.?" she asked, hands on her hips. 

"Really? I had no idea," Lauren said sarcastically, staring pointedly at the clock on the dungeon wall.

"Does it look like we care?" Rose asked. Isabel frowned, but all knew she wasn't really mad at them.

"Go to bed," she said, shooing them towards the dorms. They all went, surprisingly. Anj'la was changing up in the dorm, and, while she didn't know about the others, _she_ was ready for bed at the end of a long, hard, but definitely interesting day. 

T/N: So? How'd you like it? REVIEW! Tell all your friends about it, and tell them to review as well!

Enchanted Spirit: you said the inventions reminded you of F&G- Mari&Matt, but specially Mariana, spend a bunch of time with them- they're neighbors, and the boys and Ginny are like siblings to them, & Molly loves to shove the little rich kids full of food- yum, yum!  
  


amo- yeah, Harry's 5th year, you mentioned we know the characters well- that's cuz we ARE them. I'm Mariana/Matt (Matt's my calm side, Mariana me the rest of the time) The writer is Anj'la, our other best buds Lauren & Jovanna, and Rose a combo of us all. So yeah, we know the characters.

Micah- hi! Nat talks about you so much, it feels like I know you!


	6. Potion Daze

T/N: Due to me being a lazy bum, I have taken forever to respond. SORRY! Will try to update oftener, hehe. Blame it on………….. The lord Goddess of Ethiopia, who have cursed me with laziness. Or that's what I'm telling my teachers. Send me a friendly word of encouragement… or a flame, whichever you think with get me going faster, at strictlyslytherin@owlpost22.zzn.com

If you want me to send you an e-mail that says, hey, I've got a new chapter up, just put your e-ail address in an email to the address above.

Disclaimer: Read the other disclaimers, as follows:

Disclaimer 1: I own nothing that's owned by anyone else!

Disclaimer 2: See Chapter 1

Disclaimer 3: See other chapters!

Disclaimer 4: blah, blah, blah, I own nothing that you recognize, blah, blah, blah.

Disclaimer 5: I hope you've caught on by now I don't own anything that's someone else's. 

Chapter 6

Potion Daze

            "There you are!" Rose yelled, running from one end of the table to the other. 

            "G'morning, sleepy-head!" said Mariana. Rose eyed her plate. It had bagels, eggs, bacon, pancakes and a bowl of cereal to the side of it. A cup of apple juice and a mug of hot chocolate sat on the other side. 

            "Mmm… looks good. Oh, and for your information, I wasn't sleeping; I was getting our schedules. Does anyone know what day it is, just by the way?" Rose responded, heaping her plate full of food. Not as full as Mariana's, but still quite full. 

            "Monday?" Anj'la asked, stifling a yawn. Mariana and Matt may be morning people, but Anj'la would rather sleep in to the time most people are ready to go to bed, thank you very much. 

            "The first day of school?" Blaise asked, taking a sip of his orange juice.

            "September 2nd?" asked Matt.

            "Two months 6 days, 4 hours, 10 minutes and 23 seconds until Anj'la 17th birthday?" Quinn asked, glancing at his watch. Jovanna clapped her hands.

            "Oh Matt, you remembered!" she squealed, hugging him. The others traded glances. Hadn't Matt said September 2? Oh well.

            "Well, yes to all of those," Rose admitted. "Quinn, how do you know that? Never mind, I don't want to know," she decided, as Quinn opened his mouth. "It's all of those other things, but, most importantly, it's a Potion's day!"

            "Oh, I love those," Mariana said wistfully.

            "Who doesn't?" asked Anj'la, grinning.

            "The Gryffindors?" Blaise suggested.

            "You mean GryffinDORKs," said Lauren, "with emphasis on the DORK part."

            "Especially Harry Potter," said Anj'la.

            "I hate Potter," said a cold drawling voice coming from behind them. Draco Malfoy. He eyed Mariana's heaping plate, as she had just helped herself to hash browns and biscuits.

            "God, Starbanks, leave enough for the rest of us, why don't you?" Mariana turned around, knife in hand. (She had just been slicing her biscuit open) She pointed it at his nose. Draco went cross-eyed staring at it. 

            "Did you know breakfast is the best meal of the day for you? Kinda surprising, isn't it that most people skip breakfast when, if you think of it, you haven't eaten in like, 10 hours?" With that, she turned around and went calmly back to eating her breakfast. 

During this, Anj'la had been snickering quietly. Draco finally turned to her. 

"What're you laughing about?" he demanded. 

"Well, you said you hate Potter and… and…" Anj'la could barely talk for laughing. "You know what they say; love and hate are VERY closely connected…"

"What! You won't tell Potter that I love him- because I don't! I DON'T!" Matt snickered.

"We won't need to, will we, Harry Potter, Boy-who-lived?" he said to someone over Draco's shoulder. Draco whirled around, eyes wide. There was no one there.

"Twitchy little rodent, aren't you Malfoy?" Lauren said scathingly. While that memorable event had taken place almost a year ago, they all still recalled it in wonderful clearness. Lauren then sent a jet of blue light at Draco, turning him into a creamy white weasel. 

"Oh, no! I missed!" Lauren said, clasping her hand together.

"What do you mean?" Anj'la asked, smiling at the little rodent that Mariana had scooped up. "You hit him dead on."

"I meant to turn him into a hamster." At this everyone laughed, except for Mariana, who cuddled the creature.

"You know, he's kinda cute this way. Can I keep him?" she asked. At this, the weasel bit her, so she flung him to the ground. He quickly scampered into the dungeons, where Professor Snape would turn him back to his normal self. Snape had learned that any white rodents in the Slytherin dungeons were really Draco Malfoy. 

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^

            When they arrived at the potions room, the corridor was filled with students waiting to be let in to the locked dungeon. Mariana, Anj'la, Rose, Jovanna, Lauren and Quinn had to wait outside. Matt and Blaise weren't in this class, unfortunately.

            "Why are you here?" asked a small brown-haired Gryffindor by the name of Rebecca Turner.

            "Who are you addressing, Gryffindork?" Lauren asked. The girl frowned as that last 'k' was heard.

            "Her." At this, Rebecca Turner pointed her finger at Mariana. "How did you get in this class? Snape only accepts you if you got an 'O' on your O.W.L. and you ALWAYS explode your potion, so you didn't."

            "He also accepts you if you happen to be like me," Mariana told her. "Mariana Starbanks."

            "Well, where's your creepy twin? He's as like you as can be."

            "He decided not to come. This class has too many Gryffindorks in it." Truth was, he hadn't been accepted, but Mariana wasn't about to let this _girl_ know that. 

            "What's that supposed to mean? Anyway, we always knew you just as that girl who always got nine out of ten for trying," Turner said, trying to put up a brave front.

            "What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Anj'la asked, stepping towards her menacingly. In turn, Turner stepped forward, glaring at Anj'la. Secretly, she admitted to herself she was rather glad it wasn't Mariana she was having this glare war with. Anj'la might send a better glare, but Mariana's white-blue stare was strangely scary.

            "It means that the rest of us EARNED the right to be in this class. She's only here because Snape likes her and thinks she deserves to."

            "HA!" Anj'la yelled. "SHE DESERVES IT!" 

            "He FEELS she deserves it!" Turner yelled back. Anj'la picked the Gryffindor up by the neck of the robes and slammed her against the dungeon wall, pulling her wand out.

            "Take- It – Back!" Anj'la said through gritted teeth. From behind Anj'la came footsteps, followed by Snape's icy voice. 

            "Ms. Evans, I'm afraid I have to ask you to drop Ms. Turner."

            "Yes, Professor," Anj'la replied, letting Turner slide to the floor. 

            "What has been going on here?" Snape asked, looking from Anj'la to Rebecca Turner. "Explain." Instantly, the hall burst into a flurry of everyone trying to explain at once.

            "SILENCE!" Snape roared. The hallway fell silent as his gaze swept through them. His eyes singled out Mariana. Quinn had a comforting arm around her just for this reason.

            "Ms. Starbanks, what happened?" Mariana sniffed and suddenly burst into very realistic sobs and covered her face with her hands.

            "Turner- she- she said I don't belong in this class and I can't- can't do the work!" Mariana's voice rose and she buried her head in Quinn's shoulder, not to hide her tears, but the lack thereof. Quinn awkwardly patted her head. Snape had heard enough from his favorite student to deduct points. 

            "Ms. Turner, maybe I should have let Ms. Evans strangle you. 20 points from Gryffindor."

            "But- but Professor-" the girl tried to protest.

            "Silence, now into the room before the bell rings or more points will be lost from Gryffindor." Everyone scrambled into the room and into their seats, Mariana and Anj'la feeling comfortable enough in Snape's presence to sit in the front row. Everyone else in the class sat farther back.

            "Now," Snape said, as soon as everyone settled. "We will begin with a review from last year. You must brew the draft from memory to warm up your skills… or let me know if you shouldn't have been placed in this class." At this, his lip sneered as he gazed at the Gryffindors. They cringed away, having already lost 20 points before class even started. He continued. "The draft you will be brewing is the Draught of Peace. Any ingredients you may need are on my desk. Begin." 

Mariana and Anj'la both grinned. Although they had only done this one once, both had memorized the steps. Both started instantly. Anj'la lined up the ingredients in the order they were used as her water was boiling. In comparison, Mariana had dumped all her ingredients on her desk and was throwing them into her water as she chose, in a seemingly random pattern. 

            "Hmm… this one's pretty… What a gorgeous color…" She could be heard muttering. 

About five minutes into the class, there was a loud explosion that blasted Mariana, Anj'la and Professor Snape, who happened to be behind them at the time, through the back wall. They were thrown through the class, upsetting tables that tipped over the cauldrons, causing more explosions. Anj'la slammed into the back wall, but not before her foot collided with Quinn's nose, making a sickening crunch. 

"Oh my god- Quinn, are you alright?" Anj'la asked, pulling her body from the debris. 

"I….Wing…." were the only words distinguishable as he tried to stop the flow of blood coming from his nose.  Snape dismissed him with a curt nod. 

"Mr. Thompson, you may go to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey will be able to patch you up."

"I'll go with him!" Anj'la said, but Snape declined the offer. 

"No Ms. Evans, I believe we need you more here. We'll be working to fix this up. Mr. Thompson?" Snape pointed his wand at a chair, which started to float. Quinn sat down in it, and it whisked itself off to the Hospital Wing. 

By the end of the period, Quinn had returned, fully healed and blood-free, and the classroom repaired. It was time for Snape to give out the points. He assigned everyone normal scores- until he got to Mariana.

"Eight out of ten, Ms. Starbanks." The classroom fell silent. The general question seemed to be, did Snape really just give Mariana Starbanks an eight out of ten? As Turner had pointed out earlier, Mariana ALWAYS got a nine out of ten for trying. It was unheard of for her to get less than that. Mariana's bottom lip quivered. 

"But, Professor, I know the potion; I just have trouble brewing it!" Mariana then began to recite the potion from memory, including where you could get all of the ingredients for the potion. Snape smiled faintly.

"Very well, you obviously know the material, so nine out of ten," Snape concluded. The classroom then resumed its normal loudness of barely above a whisper. Snape was returning to his desk when the bell rang. 

Outside in the hall, the others grouped around Rose. 

"What class have we got next?" Anj'la asked. 

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Rose replied.

 "With the old toad," Quinn said gloomily.

"But it is with Matt and Blaise," Mariana said happily.

"Yep, you're stuck with us," Blaise said from behind them. They turned around. Matt was looking sulkily at Blaise, who was leaning, relaxed, against a pillar.  "Yup, you're stuck with us. DADA is in the same place," he added, jerking his thumb in the general direction of the classroom. 

            About 10.342 steps later, they were standing in front of _Professor_ Umbridge's door. Anj'la was reaching for the handle when the door swung open. The eight Slytherins gave the person in the doorway a careful scrutiny, not bothering to hide that they clearly disapproved of her. She was about 4 feet 11 inches, and, even Lauren, who was the smallest, was taller than she was. She really did look like a toad. 

            "Oh, hello Mr. Zambini," she said in an unnaturally high voice. 

            "Hello Professor," Blaise said quietly. 

            "Mr. Zambini, your voice is deeper," Umbridge remarked.

            "I KNOW!" he said loudly, and rushed into the classroom. Mariana followed him and gave him a hug. Rose bowed her head as she followed them in, trying hard not to laugh. 

            Inside the classroom, once the bell had rung, Umbridge sat down and cleared her throat with an annoying little cough. * _Hem, Hem *_

            "Good Morning, class," she squawked. There were a few nods and waves from her class. "No, no, no, that won't do at all," said a shocked Umbridge. (T/N: do remember this is her first ever class) "When I say good morning class, you will say Good Morning Professor Umbridge. Let's try it again. Good Morning, Class."

            "Good Morning Professor Umbridge," the class repeated dutifully, except for Blaise, who didn't say anything.

            "Very good. Now, do all of you have your books?" Umbridge asked. The class nodded as one. "Fine, then. Wands away and I can take attendance." There was a small flurry of movement as people put their wands into book bags. Umbridge called out the Ravenclaw names, which were all responded to by, 'Here, Professor," by the studious Ravenclaws. However, when the Slytherin names were called out, few students responded to the call. The few that did responded simply with "Un-huh," or "Yeah," which Umbridge wisely ignored.

            "Has anyone seen Misses and Misters Baker, Copperfield, Evans, Murphy, Starbanks, Starbanks, Thompson, and Zambini?" Umbridge asked. The eight mentioned all stood up and made very elaborate, mocking bows. 

            "I'm Anj'la Evans. Anj'la J. Evans," Anj'la said. There was a subtle warning undertone to these words that Umbridge seemed not to catch. 

            "Quinn Thompson."

            "Rose Copperfield."

"Jovanna Baker."

"I'm Blaise Zambini, as you already know."

"We're the Starbanks, Matt and Mariana." The two said this in absolute unison, their eyes issuing a challenge to the professor. 

"Why did you not answer when I called roll?" Umbridge asked, looking at the list to break eye contact with the two. They had eyes so light blue they seemed white, and it was very unnerving.

"We wanted to introduce ourselves- Specially," Anj'la said. The warning was so obvious this time even Umbridge could not deny it. 

"That sounds like a threat to me, young lady," Umbridge said, standing up, which was no big action. If anything, it might have made her smaller. A Ravenclaw boy, Mark Randolph, raised his hand cautiously. Umbridge acknowledged him with a nod of her head. "Yes?"

"Miss? That wasn't a threat; that was a precautionary warning. Trust me. These Slytherins do not give what SOUND like threats. They give THREATS." Umbridge considered this for a moment. 

"Detention!" She finally snapped. Mark gaped at her. 

"Not you Mr. Randal."

"Randolph," corrected Mark. Umbridge waved it away.

"You eight, my office, tonight at six o'clock sharp." Another person raised his hand, but this was a fellow sixth year Slytherin. 

"Miss, you might wish to find some other way to punish them. They have contests, complete with bets, to see who can get the most detentions in the year."

"I already have two," Blaise bragged. "This class and Thesel's class."

"Blaise, that's why you have the record," Anj'la reminded him. Blaise grinned and they gave each other high-fives. 

"By the way, _madam_" Anj'la put no respect into the word, making it seem no better than a common cuss word. "Why are you giving us detention?"

"Why? Ms. Evans, I don't need a reason. I am a teacher."

"Then we are just going to be forced to go see Dumbledore about it," said Rose. "If you're just going to give us detention."

"Maybe you'd be deemed unfit to teach at Hogwarts. You're blatantly favoring the Ravenclaws over the Slytherins," Lauren said.

"Yes, and-" Anj'la never got the chance to finish her sentence. 

"Sit down and be quiet, you stupid girl!" Umbridge screamed at her. Only Anj'la self-control kept her jaw from dropping. This- woman just called her a stupid girl. The eight of them sat down, all planning their revenge. (T/N: I think it should end here, but it won't) Umbridge seemed taken aback by them going along, but kept going. 

"Take out your books and read chapter one in your books." Rose raised her hand, and Umbridge cautiously acknowledged her.

"Yes Ms. Copperfield?"

"We read it in the train. All eight of us." She waved her hands to encompass the eight who challenged Umbridge.

"Read chapter two then," Umbridge said through gritted teeth.

"We read that too. We read the whole book aloud and discussed it." Everyone gaped. One would expect this from Ravenclaws, not respectable rule-breaking Slytherins. Rose shrugged. "What can I say? We were bored- VERY bored."

"I did not expect this of you. Ravenclaws, or maybe Hufflepuffs-" there was a cough from Quinn that sounded a lot like _* pushovers *_ "But not Slytherins," she finished, confused.

"As you will soon learn, we are _not_ normal Slytherins," Mariana said, flashing a grin at Anj'la. 

"You got that right," a Slytherin boy by the name of Joe Cornwallis muttered, a grin on his strong features. Anj'la shot a jet of gold light at him, which hit him square in the chest. He was hurled across the room, hitting the black board with a loud ***thud*** and sticking there. By the time people looked at Anj'la, her wand was back in her bag and she was grinning. 

"I said, wands AWAY, Ms. Evans," Umbridge said sweetly. "And please do unstick Mr. Cornwallis."

"But Professor, you said wands away," Anj'la countered. 

"Then tell me the counter curse," Umbridge suggested. Anj'la told her.

"Fist Medilcum," Anj'la said. Her seven friends glared at her.

"Anj'la, I can't believe you told!" hissed Mariana. The others sent looks of disgust at Anj'la before turning away with a wink.

"Fist Medilcum," Umbridge said. Everyone in the classroom, Umbridge included, floated up to the ceiling. Eight very special Slytherins rolled in the air, laughing so hard they were almost crying. Umbridge, on the other hand, was not amused.

"Put me down!" she screeched, as her head bumped against the ceiling. "I'll give you to the count of ten to release everyone! ONE! TWO!"

"Four! Five! Seven! Nine! Ten!" yelled Quinn happily. 

"Someone failed pre-school," Jim Ryly, Isabel the prefect's little brother, muttered. For some strange, unexplainable reason, Quinn had indeed failed pre-school. Unfortunately, for Jim, he was also very sensitive about it. 

"Rehillamorah!" Quinn shouted, flinging out his hand to point at Jim. A jet of light flew from his extended hand and formed two 'hands' which tossed Jim Ryly from one side of the room to the other. This went on for a few minutes before Quinn grew tired and the hands dropped him. Jim landed on Umbridge's desk, shattering it. Papers and ribbons flew everywhere. 

"QUINN! What was THAT?" Mariana and Matt screamed, in prefect unison. 

"You can do wandless magic?" Anj'la asked.

"Always have been able to do it," Quinn muttered. Many students gave him frightened looks, which Quinn ignored. He waved his hand and muttered, "Fist Muclidem." Everyone slowly floated down. The last student was just touching the floor when the bell rang. The eight grabbed their bags and ran out of class. 

"I guess you always learn something new," Rose said as they walked down the corridor. The rest of the day went without any more major incidents. News of Quinn's wandless magic spread throughout the school like wildfire. It's impossible to keep secrets at Hogwarts for long.

"It's no big deal, Quinn," Anj'la said as a Ravenclaw second year ran out of his way. "Not to us, anyway," she added, sneering at the Ravenclaw.

T/N: aren't you all proud of me? I got it up! I will try to get the next one up. If you want me to send you an email that says when I put a new chapter up, send ME an email at the address at the top. Make sure you put your email address in it. 

MKN: Sorry about the name thing. Is the FBI after you too? That always puts me in a bad mood, Grassfairy. Is that better?

Zmedlebum- Yeah, it's pronounced Angela, just an exotic spelling.


	7. Can it get any worse? Do you want to ask...

T/N: Hey people, this one may be quicker than the last one, but the NEXT one might be farther away, as Nat still has it. I'll try to get it from her ASAP, 'kay? Anyway, here it goes!

Disclaimer: All right, I admit it! I am the great J.K. Rowling!  Bow down to me you worthless mortals! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOT! I do not know her; do not assume I am her. Do not sue Nat & me over this, as together we own 2 younger siblings, a teddy bear, a cat and 7 cents.

Chapter 7

Can It Get Any Worse? Do you really want to ask that?

            Anj'la did not sleep well that night. She tossed and turned, dreaming a dream she could no longer remember. When she awoke, she was the only one in the dorm. 

            She walked down to the common room, dark circles under her eyes. The boys were in a very sorry shape. Blaise's arm was defiantly crooked. Matt had a black eye, and Quinn was trying to stifle the blood gushing from his nose. 

            "Nice sunrise, Matt. What happened to you three?" Anj'la asked, throwing herself onto an armchair. "Were you fighting?"

            "Kinda," responded Matt. "I fell out of bed."

            "I ran into a wall," Blaise said, trying to grin.

            "And I bell dowd de stairs," Quinn said. A thought occurred to Anj'la.

            "Just curiously, Quinn, but were those stairs the ones down to your dorm?" Quinn nodded miserably. Anj'la burst out laughing. 

            "Quinn, that's what, three steps down?"

            "Doe?"  He asked. Blaise stretched and yawned.

            "Thesel's detention was horrible. He had me translate a whole chapter of an Ancient Runes text. After four HOURS of trying to decipher it, he told me, even the scientists who work with the stuff have never translated it. I could have killed him."

            "That would do it," Anj'la agreed. She hadn't taken Ancient Runes _because_ it was so hard. 

            It was now seven o'clock and the four agreed to head down to breakfast. They entered the Great Hall, only to find the Slytherin table deserted except for four plates of toast. They sat down. While Anj'la nibbled on a piece of toast, Matt took what was left on her plate. Anj'la shook her head and left to go down to the dungeons.

            "Where you going?" Blaise asked around a bite of toast. 

            "I'm going to wander aimlessly through the dungeons. I need to sort myself out." Quinn, who had began to stand up, quickly sat down. If Anj'la needed to be alone, Quinn didn't want to bother her. If she didn't want to be followed, he wouldn't be able to follow her. Only Mariana could do that. But what if she did want to be followed, just to have someone to talk to? No, that wasn't really Anj'la's style. Quinn decided not to push it. If Anj'la didn't want him following her… Quinn didn't want to think about **that-** sometimes Anj'la could be scary. 

            Meanwhile, down in the dungeons, Anj'la paused and listened for any following footsteps. : Hmm… Where's Quinn?: She thought. : He was supposed to follow me.: Anj'la shrugged and kept walking. She walked to an unused part of the ground floor, and went straight to a portrait of Salazar Slytherin. It was the only one in the school, yet another reminder of how much the rest of the school hated Slytherin. His only portrait was in an unused area. 

            "Salazar Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four, help your daughter," she told him. (T/N: hee, hee) The portrait swung open. Inside was a spacious secret passageway. Anj'la stepped inside, muttering _Lumos._ Anj'la really liked the passageway, which led almost anywhere in the castle. That might be why it was in a deserted area of Hogwarts. It only opened for Slytherins, best of all. That meant that Snape and Vector were the only teachers able to get into it, and the Weasley twins and their map had no clue about it. Anj'la thought about the map. Fred and George could be so gullible sometimes. They told Mariana and Matt all about it, and even let them see it once. But this passageway- it led to the Great Hall. It had a peephole looking into the Headmaster's office. (They were pretty sure professor Dumbledore knew about the peephole, as he kept winking at them, but he didn't know about the rest of the passageway) 

But the best part of the tunnel was the part that led to Snape's private storeroom. That was the best because over 3/4 of the ingredients for the Animagi potion were not available to students. That's right. Anj'la and her friends were trying to become illegal Animagi. Anj'la often wondered what her Animagus form would be.  

Finally, Anj'la entered a room. It was a large, circular room with a high ceiling. There were already four others in the room. They were standing around a cauldron, which was now emitting orange smoke. 

"Hey," Anj'la said. The other girls nodded to her. Mariana waved.

"Hi. Weren't the boys supposed to come too?" she asked.

"They didn't get the hint. They're only boys, after all." (T/N: just for you, MKN!)

"Do you want me to call Matt?" Mariana asked. Anj'la nodded. 

Mariana concentrated. She reached inside of her for that magical rope that led to Matt, and sent a thought along it. _Matt- you there? Bring Blaise and Quinn to us. We're at The potion, 'kay?_ Soon she felt Matt's response. _We're on our way._ A few minutes later, the three boys came into the room.

Rose stretched as the boys dropped their stuff in a corner. 

"We'd better get a move on," she said. "Assuming everyone helps, the potion should be done in 2 ½ months. I think." She consulted the book that had been 'borrowed' from the extensive Starbanks Library. "Yeah, 2 ½ months."

"2 ½ months?" groaned Quinn. "There can't be THAT many more steps can there? We've already been working on this for 3 months last year, and Jov worked on it over the summer."

"Sad, isn't it?" Lauren agreed. "To think, if we started it at the beginning of last year, it'd be done."

"But I didn't find the book 'til just after Christmas, and we needed to order the Codswallop toenails," Matt interjected.

"This is a pointless argument," Anj'la decided. "But these last 2 ½ months are key." She grabbed the book from Rose and consulted it. "We have to add 7 lacewings every half hour between 8:37 A.M. and 3:37 P.M. then stir the potion 7.3 times counterclockwise." Quinn whistled softly.

"How are we going to manage that one?" he wondered. "It's only the second day of school, and there's no way any of us can be gone that long from class." 

"Why don't we each miss our best class?" Blaise suggested.

"Your voice sounds really low, bouncing off the dungeon walls like that," Jovanna said absentmindedly. 

"I know," Blaise said in a high falsetto. Everyone giggled.

"Don't you think the teachers might get suspicious?" asked Rose, who was feeling unusually logical. "If we only miss one class, but not the others? If the teachers confer, they'll know something's up. 

"Rose is right," Lauren said into the empty silence that followed it. "If we each miss a few days of school, it won't look bad, just like we're sick or something."

"But unless there _was_ a cold going around, teachers might notice that it was just us getting sick," Jovanna said. 

"That might arouse doubts of the certainty of our illnesses," Quinn said. The others stared at him.

"In English, Professor Know-it-all," Matt suggested, glancing at Mariana. She shrugged, to indicate that she, too, had no clue what he just said.

"I did say it in English," Quinn said, pouting. 

"Words we can understand, please?" Rose asked. Quinn sighed.

"I said, they're less likely to believe our illness if just we were sick."

_Oh. I Knew that. _Mariana mind-told Matt, who chuckled. 

"You know, I sincerely doubt you failed preschool for any good reason," Anj'la told Quinn. 

 "Thanks. But I can't miss school. I always get behind."

"We'll help. Me for DADA, Rose for Care of Magical Creatures, err… Me for Potions, Jovanna or Lauren for Charms and Matt for Herbology." Lauren was now standing on her head, obviously deep in thought. 

"I've got it!" she claimed, righting herself. "If we each miss one week of school, that's two months. But maybe we should do it in pairs… Anj and Star, Matt and Jov, Quinn and Blaise, Rose and Me. So we each miss two weeks, one at a time, and two lucky pairs miss 3 weeks!" This plan was discarded almost instantly.

"Naw, no cold could go on that long. How 'bout we each miss one week with the pairs you suggested, and plan from there. But we still need an excuse."

Everyone looked at everyone else, and finally, the Knut dropped.

"That's it!" screamed Anj'la. 

The group gathered outside the potion, their plan laid. 

"So, who's going to miss the first week?" Rose asked.

"I will!" Mariana and Matt sang out in unison, as usual.

_"Ink-a-bink _

_A bottle of ink _

_The __Cork__ fell out_

_And you stink!"_ Blaise said, pointing between Matt and Mariana. His finger landed on Mariana, and he shrugged. "Sorry Matt, Mariana wins." 

"I thought the finger landing on you means you lost!" Matt protested.

"Maybe, but she's my girlfriend, and you _obviously_ are not, so she wins," Blaise told him. 

"Fine. Ink hates me, anyway."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time they got to the Great Hall, breakfast for everyone else had started. The seven of them managed to get seats together. Somehow, whenever Matt, Mariana or Anj'la wanted seats, there were some conveniently located. 

"Where did Mariana go?" Lauren asked, glancing over the other six heads bent over their meals. 

"I won't be gone long, back by 8:15," Anj'la told her. "And we don't add anything until 8:37, so we're fine. Right?" 

"Yeah," Rose agreed. "You should get back in time." Just then, there were loud screeches from over head as the morning mail came in. Rose paid for her copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and Anj'la gave a cracker to Nubay as he dropped the letter he had been carrying into her pumpkin juice.

"Thanks," she told him, casting a quick drying spell on her letter. Her mother's neat print registered in her brain briefly. It was probably a letter telling her what she had forgotten. 

Anj'la scanned the letter. First she looked shocked, then she was very stunned, and then horrified. She looked around for a corner to die in, and, finding none, decided to confront the subjects of the letter. As her mother wasn't there, she went for the next subject. 

She shoved the letter into her bag and stalked over to the Gryffindor table and tapped one of the boys facing away from her on the shoulder. He turned around. He had black hair, emerald green eyes and glasses. It was Harry Potter. She grabbed his arm and attempted to drag him away. 

Instantly, the two kids on either side of him turned around. One, a red headed boy Anj'la recognized as Ron Weasley already had his hand on his wand. Anj'la did not loosen her grip.

"What the hell?" said Ron.

"Let him go," said the girl, whose name was… oh, what was it… Hermy? Mary? Hermione that was it. Hermione Granger. 

"I only want to talk to him," Anj'la hissed. 

"Why should we trust you? You're a Slytherin. You're probably all working for You-Know-Who. You're going to haul him off and turn him over to Him." Ron accused. Anj'la sighed. When she first came to Hogwarts, all this bothered her. Now, however, she was 5 years old and wiser. She knew when to pick her fights and when not to. This was not a time to. 

"If I agree with you, can he come with me?" Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "Besides, your family is pretty close with some Slytherins, aren't they?" Seeing Ron's confused look, she sighed. "The Starbanks Twins? And that's my guarantee I won't hurt him. I hang out with them, who hang out with your infamous older twin brothers, Gred and Forge."

"You mean Fred and George," said Hermione, thoroughly confused.

"No, I mean Gred and Forge. Trust me." Ron suddenly remembered the brief Christmas time conversation he and Harry had had with the twins in their first year.

"Bloody hell," he said. "Do you have Muggle microphones wired in our common room or something?" Hermione sighed impatiently.

"Ron, you know Muggle electronics don't work at Hogwarts."

"Umm… Excuse me?" Harry asked as Ron and Hermione started bickering. "You're cutting off circulation to my hand," he told Anj'la, fruitlessly trying to loosen her death grip.

"Sorry," said Anj'la, plainly not sorry at all. "Now come with me, Potter." 

Anj'la started walking and Harry, much to his surprise, followed. She led him down a set of stairs, made two right turns, a left, went through a door, and down another set of stairs. She glanced around and led Harry into a room. Harry recognized this room. It was the room off the Great Hall the Champions had met in, during his fourth year. Anj'la released his hand, and Harry felt the blood flow back into his fingers. 

Harry cautiously sat down into one of the fireside chairs, keeping a wary eye on Anj'la. 

"What's this about," he asked quite lightly.

"_THIS,_" he was told. Anj'la shoved a letter at him. 

"Read this." He did. First, he was confused. Why was Anj'la letting him read this letter from her mom? But as he finished the letter, the meaning became all too clear. Harry numbly stared into the fire.

"Of all the possible people, you're my cousin."

T/N: OOOH, cliffie! I was just looking back, and the only real cliffie wasn't very big and was way back in chapter one. Six chapters without a real cliffhanger? Consider yourselves lucky! BWHAHAHA! 

Sorry… Interesting stuff in this chapter, no? Animagi, lost-and-found cousins, all that good stuff. Nat still has chapter 8, so might be a while. I'll get it ASAP, promise. 

Enchanted Spirit- it's fine, glad to have you back! About the Zambini/Zambini thing…. Err…. (Thinks up answer) Zambinis related to Zabinis, it's a shortened version of another name, but they immigrated at different times and to different places. Old family tradition to name children after names like fire, so the family has lots of Blaises, Fionas, Tybalts, Blairs, Blaines, Blazes, etc. Blaise Zambini's little sister is Infernal, which is odd, but oh well. 

MKN- yes, I am a wretched child. (See ch. 3, when Lucius calls me/Mariana the devil child)


	8. An Eventful Day

T/N: I am SOOOO sorry this took forever. But really, it's not my fault. **looks around wildly to blame it on someone** Uhhh.... It's Grassfairy's fault, because when we had a shaving cream fight, he pulled on my arm and SPRAINED my elbow. Really. And does anyone know how hard it is to type with your arm in a sling? Did you even know it is possible to sprain your elbow? I didn't know that. So don't attack me, attack him!

Okay, so after it healed, I took a 3 month sabbatical... also known as SUMMER VACATION!!!!!!!!! But school's about to start, and Nat said if I didn't get this up, her friend would kill her- and me, most likely, so I decided to get it up!****

**Backs away from Grassfairy **Don't hurt me, I'm the nicest person you've ever met, REMEMBER?

Anyway.... On with the story!

Disclaimer: I own nothing... that anyone else owns.

Slytherin Bombshell

At the end of last chapter, Harry had just found out Anj'la is his cousin...

Chapter 8: A Boring, Eventful Day

_"Read this." He did. First, he was confused. Why was Anj'la letting him read this letter from her mum? But as he finished the letter, the meaning became all too clear. Harry numbly stared into the fire._

_"Of all the possible people, you're my cousin."_

"Oh, thanks, Potter, like I wanted to be your cousin too. But you didn't have to hurt my feelings," Anj'la pouted. "Oh, I've got to go. Don't tell anyone yet, I'll try to keep Mariana from finding out. See you later!"

Anj'la shoved the letter into her cloak pocket as she left the room. She glanced at her watch as she moved silently passed the Great Hall. Oh no, it was already 8:35. The lacewings needed to be added in two minutes. There was no way she could get to the potion that soon.

Anj'la took off in a dead sprint, hurling through the corridors. She nearly flattened little Professor Flitwick. What was he doing in the dungeons, anyway?

Anj'la dashed into the hall where they kept the potion. Thankfully, Mariana had not done anything to the potion. She was sitting in the corner... playing with sand? She looked up at Anj'la.

"You're almost late. You look terrible. What happened?"

Back in the hallway, Professor Flitwick was picking up all of his dropped books and dusting himself off.

"I really need to talk to Severus about some of his Slytherins. They're out of control."

Blaise let out a long sigh. It was almost time for class.

"Well, see you later," said Jovanna, as she and Lauren walked over towards the hallways leading to the North Tower.

"Wait- What are you doing- Where are you going?" Blaise yelled after them. Lauren only waved as the two of them climbed a set of stairs, hiding them from sight.

"I wonder what they're doing?" Quinn wondered. The three boys turned to Rose. "So... Rosie... What _are_ they doing?"

"What do you think?" Rose replied, walking off. The boys followed. Rose stopped, rolled her eyes and leaned up against a wall.

"They aren't doing anything _too_ bad." The boys relaxed a little at these words. "Remember the plan?"

"Ummm... No?" Matt said, grinning. Blaise and Quinn exchanged quick looks. They couldn't remember the plan either. That meant it was time to bother Rose to find out.

Four floors up, Lauren pulled out a small jar.  
"Beautiful," she said, examining it.

"Yup," said Jovanna. "We really are horrible." Lauren looked innocent.

"How so?" she asked sweetly, slipping the jar into her cloak as some Gryffindors passed.

"Well," Jovanna said thoughtfully. "This cold is really bad. We're out here to infect the school for the next four weeks. We're willing to do this just so our absences won't look suspicious."

"Jov. We're Slytherins. It's what we do." Lauren hummed. "_These cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends_. The song from our first year? It goes something like that. If it's what we have to do to get our way, then we'll do it, no matter what it is." This seemed to be a suitable answer for Jovanna.

Anj'la most definitely did not want to tell Mariana about what had happened in the room off the Great Hall.

"Nothing happened, I just...just...lost track of time. Yah. I lost track of time, that's it," she lied. Mariana looked skeptical.

"Anj, you're as convincing as Draco truthfully pretending to lie, thinking he's telling the truth." Anj'la screwed up her face attempting to figure out what Mariana had just said.  
Mariana sighed. "All I'm saying is that you're not convincing. You'd better add those lacewings."

"Err.... Okay," Anj'la said, adding the lacewings and stirring. Mariana really surprised her sometimes.

Anj'la moved away from the potion, clicking the timer on her watch. She looked up to find Mariana examining Anj'la's hairline.

"Anj'la, I think you're going bald."

"I'm not going bald, Star."

"Yes you are," Mariana said firmly.

"Leave me alone, Mariana. Please."

"Fine." Mariana got up and crossed the room, sitting in the lone corner of the room. The room had been circular, but Mariana had carved a corner out. Anj'la highly suspected she had used Fred and George Weasley's fireworks collection to blow out that corner, but nothing was ever proven. That was how Mariana worked. You knew it was her, but there was no proof.

"Star, put this in my bag." Anj'la tossed her coat to Mariana.

"Sure thing Anj," Mariana said as she opened Anj'la's bag and began to shove the coat in.

Once the coat was inside, Mariana noticed a wadded up piece of paper that had fallen out of the coat pocket. Mariana glanced behind her to make sure Anj'la wasn't watching her. She wasn't. Anj'la was studying the recipe. Mariana slowly smoothed out the paper, her practiced fingers keeping the paper silent. Her eyes speed-read the paper, widening in amazement. Her jaw dropped.

Jovanna and Lauren reached the fifth floor landing. Jovanna peered over the railings and jumped back.

"I don't know how Gryffindorks can stand being up this high. I'm not used to it. I'm used to being down in the dungeons," she said, shivering. Lauren looked down.

"You're right. That's unnerving. Let's get this over with, Jov." Lauren once again pulled out the jar.

"Wait. If we're standing here when we open the jar, won't we get sick?" Jovanna said, placing one hand on the jar.

"Ha," Lauren laughed. "I thought of that. When Anj'la and I brewed up this cold, I put a spell on it so it wouldn't affect any of us eight." Lauren was now wearing a smile that Jovanna had only seen once or twice before. The most recent time anyone had seen it was 2 years ago, when she hung Percy Weasley upside down by his ankles because he thought she was a first year. Fred and George, while they may hex Percy themselves, could not let others do it, so hexed Lauren 3 seconds later.

Lauren grabbed the lid of the jar and twisted.

Down in the Great Hall, Matt, Quinn, and Blaise were still trying to remember the plan, and were bothering Rose about it.

"Please?" asked Blaise.

"No," Rose replied.

"Please?" asked Quinn.

"No," Rose replied.

"Please?" asked Matt.

"No," Rose replied.

"Please?" asked Blaise.

"No," Rose replied.

"Please?" asked Quinn.

"No," Rose replied.

"Please?" asked Matt.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Rose screamed. Matt grinned.

"That was an even number of times," he said. "Two negatives cancel each other out, which means you canceled it out 5 times. That means you'll tell us." Rose's shoulders slumped.

"Fine." Rose briefly outlined the plan to the boys. Quinn and Matt exchanged a quick look. If they had been anyone but Slytherins, they would have thought the girls had gone too far. Luckily for them, they were Slytherins, which mean that they didn't care. Not enough to lose sleep over at night anyway.

Mariana took a deep breath. Anj'la and Potter... Who would have thought? She took another deep breath and kept digging through Anj'la's bag.

Anj'la glanced up from her homework.

"Mariana?" Something suspicious was going on over there, Anj'la thought. Mariana had been too quiet for too long.

"Yes?" There, that proved it. That sweet, innocent voice... Mariana was up to something.

"What are you doing? Wait!" Anj'la cried, catching on. "IS THAT MY BAG?" Anj'la screamed, leaning so far forward she smudged her ink. Mariana's head spun around, looking distinctly guilty.

"Bag? What bag?" she asked, trying to look innocent. She caught Anj'la's glare, and changed her tactics. "Oooooh, _this_ bag. Nope. Not yours. Mine. Yup, my bag, nothing to worry about. Anj'la, not believing her, rolled her eyes and continued her homework. Mariana just kept searching through the bag.

"Today... We have all of the classes we didn't have yesterday... Except for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which we have every day," Rose commented, glancing at the schedules.

"Oh no, we forgot detention," Quinn said with a grin, not sounding at all alarmed.

"Rosie, you should have reminded us," Matt teased. "Why didn't you?"

"I... forgot," Rose whispered. The boys all gasped loudly. The three of them fell over onto the ground, occasionally twitching. After about 30 seconds of this, Quinn sat up.

"Okay, I'm bored now." Blaise and Matt got up as well.

"Yah, me too."

"Agreed," they agreed.

When they arrived in DADA, they all sat down, Quinn in one corner desk, the other three like a ring from the rest of the class. Everyone else cleared to the other side of the room, except for the other Slytherins, who all felt that that would be too much like showing weakness. Quinn scowled. He abruptly waved his fingers at the other students of the class.

"Oogly-boogly!" he said loudly. The Ravenclaws gasped. Nothing happened, and Quinn smiled like his worst enemy had just been run over by the Knight Bus. He could use this to his advantage.

The bell rang just after Jovanna and Lauren slid into the classroom. They managed to slip into seats just as Umbridge entered the room.

"Good Morning, Class," she trilled.

"Good Morning, Professor Umbridge," the Ravenclaws chorused, the Slytherin side quiet. Umbridge's eyes singled out the students who had skipped her detention the previous night.

"You all skipped my detention last night," she said, pointing at the group.

"You had detention last night?" quipped Blaise.

"You should have told us, we would have thrown you a First-Ever-Detention Party," Matt said. Umbridge ignored them, while the rest of the class snickered quietly.

"You all have detention tonight, for skipping detention," she continued, pointing her pudgy finger in quinn's face.

"You-" Quinn pointed back, and Umbridge drew away. "Shouldn't have given us detention on the first day."

"Just come tonight, and no hard feelings, alright?" Umbridge said sweetly. "And bring your two other friends- who, I notice, aren't here. And why not?"

"Please, miss, they were throwing up all over the place," Joe Cornwallis said, shooting a glance at Matt.

"It was really gross. Evans threw up all over my cloak. I had to go back and get a new one," Jim Ryly said, rolling his eyes. Umbridge shuddered.

"Take them to Madam Pomfrey later, and bring them anyway," she decided.

"Just keep looking, just keep looking," Mariana sang softly to herself. "THAT'S IT?!?!" she finally screamed at Anj'la. Anj'la looked up from her long scroll of parchment covered in doodles.

"You are so... so... STRAIGHT!" Mariana yelled, throwing Anj'la's bag at her, narrowly missing the potion. Anj'la stood up.

"What's your point? Of course I like boys. You know who I like. If you meant that I'm boring, well, do you really think I'd keep my interesting stuff in my bag?" As Mariana thought about this, Anj'la turned off the timer, which had just gone off, and added more lacewings. Mariana reset the timer.

"FYI, Anj, I went through your bag."

"Duh. How stupid do you think I am?" Anj'la asked rolling her eyes. Mariana opened her mouth to respond, but Anj'la cut her off. "That was a rhetorical question." Mariana knitted her brows together.

"If you knew I was going through your bag, did you want me to find this?" she asked, waving the letter. Anj'la's eyes widened.

"Give me that!" she hissed, leaping towards Mariana. Mariana quickly Levitated the letter, smiling. Anj'la jumped up and down, trying to grab the letter, which hung inches out of her reach. To make matters worse, Mariana began to read the letter aloud.

"Dear Harry," she read. "I love you. I don't care that we are in different houses. My passion for you is over whelming; it consumes me day and night. I can't sleep for longing for you. I hope... err...That you will feel the same way in time. Love, Anj'la." Anj'la stopped jumping and planted her fists on her hips.

"Are we even talking about the same letter? 'Cause I don't remember writing that. In fact, I'm sure I never wrote anything of the sort."

"You did too write a love letter to Harry Potter," Mariana insisted.

"Did not!"

"Anj, you can't deny the proof," Mariana wheedled. "The letter's right here." She floated the letter down to hang right above Anj'la's head. Anj'la seized the moment and used the letter to pull herself up. It was not, as Mariana had insisted, a love letter to Harry Potter. It was the letter from her mum saying she was Harry's cousin. Anj'la dropped to the floor and glared at Mariana.

T/N: YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! New chapter!!! Super sorry so Late, REALLY!! (see top for excuses... err... reasons)

Amo- thanks! SO nice to see people love the story!

AHelpless-Pyro911- yeah Paddyfoot!!!!! So glad you FINALLY reviewed!! ((j/k))

rebound/strictly Slytherin- I AM NOT A LAZY BUM!!!!!!

MKN- Nat said you grew a zillion inches and went out/ broke up with Amy... Nat keeps me updated about your love life, cause she has none!!!


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